Art of constructing concrete foundation-piers.



PATENTED MAR. 5, 1907. G. W. JACKSON. ART OF GONSTRUGTING CONCRETE FOUNDATION mas.

APPLICATION TILED NQV.8,1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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I G. W. JACKSON: ART OF GONSTRUOTING CONCRETE FOUNDATION PIERS.

APPLICATION FILED KOV.8,1905.

s sums-sum s1 fizz/anion GEORGE W. JACKSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ART OF CONSTRUCTING CONCRETE FOUNDATION-PIERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 5, 1907.

Application filed November 8,1905. SeriaLNo. 286,421.

T on whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W a citizen of the of Chicago, in the county of Cool of Illinois, have invented certai United States, and

JACKSON, a resident and State 11 new and useful Improvements in the Art of Cons tructing Concrete and I do hereby declare that a full, clear, reference being had to the drawings,

the

Foundation-Piers inthe Earth;

following is and exact description thereof, accompanying and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in I the art of constructing in the earth foundation-piers of that kind consisting of a solid column of concrete or like substance which is formed, while in a plastic state, in a well or excavation sunk in the earth and afterward 2o hardens to constitute a solid pier bedded in the earth and upon wh that is emich a building or other foundation is supported.

The nnprovements constituti tion relate more specifically to preparing the excavation for plastic material, which hardens the pier. In sinking the exe P ng my inventhe means of ceiving the to constitute avation prearatory to forming a foundation-supporting pier of this character it is the present practice to support the vation from caving excavation progresses by means of suitable length held. outwardly sides by rigid metal rings spaced wall or sides of the excainwardly as the work of of lagging against the at suitable distances apart within the surrounding lagging and constructed to support the lagging,

said short-length lagging constit uting when the excavation is completed a sectional linlng or caisson for tions of which are successively lower inserted in place ready fixed in place as the rem earth The pl sections of the astic material,

the excavation, the sechorizontally divided. The

lagging are beneath the sections aloval of the ro resses to dee en the excavation.

which hardens to constitute the pier, is thereafter formed'in the excavation thus lined,

the lining remaining in place, and said lagging and supporting-rings constitute a permanent part of the pier structure.

Under the difficulty has been encountered ing the lagging already set at present practice considerable in supportthe time a lower section of lagging is inserted in place.

Furthermore, itis not possible w hen sinking l excavations for this purpose to form and maintain the wall of the excavation vertical and regular, and as a result there is formed between the lagging and the sides of the excavation pockets or spaces which are separated from the excavation by the lagging, and which do not, therefore, receive the plastic concrete which is afterward placed in the prepared excavation to constitute when hardened the pier. In suchinstances if the ex cavation should happen to intersect a strata of earth which by reason of its character or by reason of weight or pressure thereon tends to shift such shifting earth will find its way to such openings around the completed pier and fill the same, and as a result the superposed strata are shifted or displaced, thus disturbing building or other foundations supported therein or thereon.

It is one of the objects of this invention to so place the lagging or sectional lining or caisson within the excavation as to avoid the presence of such pockets or spaces around the lagging and completed pier, and thereby avoid the danger attendant upon the shifting or displacement of the loose or compressed strata of earth. To this end I propose to expand the lagging outwardly against thewall of the excavation before the concrete is placed therein in such manner as to compress the earthen wall of the excavation, and thereby fill up or obliterate the objectionable pockets or spaces between the lagging and the earthen excavation wall.

A further object of the invention is to facilitate the insertion of the successively lower sections of the lagging as the work of excavating progresses, and to thereby enable the work to'be effected with greater ease and with less labor than under the present practice.

My invention embraces, in one of its as pects, an improvement in the method of constructing foundation-piers in the earth, which consists in digging the excavation, lining the wall of the excavation with successively lower sections of lagging of suitable length as the work of excavating progresses, and expanding said lagging outwardly against said wall preparatory to forming the concrete pier therein for the purpose set forth.

The invention relates, in another aspect, to apparatus for pressing outwardly or expanding the lagging against the wall of the sectional lining or caisson lagging is expanded against the wall of the excavatlon.

l i i i l l 111 position and extend radially outwardly from a central open frame or ring 15, and said screw-jacks are removably attached at their outer ends to the expansible lagging-supporting rings. Said screw-jacks 14 each comprise a sleeve 16, provided at its inner end with a flange 17, by which it is attached to one of the faces of the central ring or frame 15, and a screw 19, extending into and having screw-threaded engagement with said sleeve and connected at its outer end with the lagging-supporting ring. As herein shown, the connection between said lagging-supporting rings and the outer ends of the jacks consists of forked litj tings 18 and 18 the arms of which ex- The invention consists in the matters hereg inafter set forth, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

I In the drawings, i igure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a section of an excavation, showing the lagging constituting the thereof and the lagging-supporting rings and showing also the apparatus for expanding the lagging outwardly against the wall of the excavation. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the excavation, illustrating the manner of placing in position the lagging and the lagging-supporting rings. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view llustrating the manner of supporting the lagging on the supportingrings. Fig. 4 is a detail view illustrating the manner of attaching the 'expanding devices to the expansible supporting-rings. Figs. 5 and 6 are cross-sections illustrating modifications of the invention.

As shown in said drawings, 10 10 designatc the lagging-supporting rings, and 11 11 the strips of lagging supported thereon be tween said rings and the sides of the excavation. The said lagging is arranged in superposed sections of a suitable length, the strips of each section meeting in abutting relation, and the rings are located at such vertical dis tances apart that the abutting ends of the lagging-strips meet at the vertical center faces of said rin s, as more clearly shown in Fig. 3. The said lagging-strips are supported on the rings by means of hooks 13 13, which hook over the upper margins of the rings, which latter, as herein shown, are made of T shape in cross-section, with the central web thereof directed inwardly. The said rings are constructed to be expanded by pressure applied from the inside thereof, whereby such pressure is transmitted to the lagging supported on the rings to force or press the same outwardly into close contact with the sides of the excavation. As herein shown, each ring is made of a plurality of curved sections, .which are jointed at their meeting ends so as to be capable of expansion, for the purpose set forth. The means shown for expanding said rings outwardly consist of a plurality of screwjacks Y 14, which are attached at their inner ends to and i l l l 1 i tend above and below the horizontal webs of the lagging-supporting rings and are attached thereto by bolts 21, and the inner ends of the shanks of which are provided with sockets 22, which receive the outer rounded ends of the screws 19. Said screws 19 are provided with fixed collars 23, having spanner-holes therein, whereby the screws may be rotated to turn the same into and out of the sleeves. The fork-arms of the fittings 18 are made wide, so as to afford a jointed connection between the adjacent ends of the curved ring members. For this purpose each fitting is attached at one side by a bolt 21. to the web at the end of one of the adjacent ring members and loosely receives the web of the end of the associated or adjacent member, Fig. 4.

The inner rings or open frames 15, to which. the jack screws are attached, are made of sufficient diameter to permit a man to pass therethrough and to permit hoisting bucketsor cages to pass therethrough, there by not interfering with the work of excavation or the lowering of material into the excavation.

The central open. frames or rings (shown in Figs. 1 and. 3) are made octagonal and eight screw-jacks are attached to and extend outwardly from said frame. In Fig. 5 I have shown a rectangular central frame 2 1, and the jack-screws 14 in this instance are attached to said frame, two at each. corner thereof. In this instance each expansible ring is made of four curved members, which are joined together by means of forked fittings 25, each of which is attached to the end of one of said. ring members by rivets or bolts 26 and is loosely connected with the adjacentend of the adjoining member. As herein shown, said adjoining member is provided with a pin 27, that extends through transversely-disposed slots 28 in the arms of said fittings. The jack-screws are connected at their outer ends with the rin.gsectio'ns between the jointed connections thus described through the medium of forked fittings, like the narrower forked fittings 18 of the previously-described construction. The construction shown in Fig. 6 embraces a cen- IZC 2. After the excavation has been completed and the last section or course of lagging inserted in place the said excavation is ready to be filled with the material which hardens to constitute the foundation-pier. As the extral rectangular open frame 29, like the frame 24, (shown in Fig. 5,) and four jackl screws 14, which are attached at their inner ends to sides of the frame and at their outer I ends to plates 30, fixed to the jointed ring 7o members in any suitable manner.

The manner of digging the excavation and the manner of placing the lagging rings and lagging therein to support the sides of the excavation is carried on generally as follows: The excavation is dug in progressive sections of such depth that the sides thereof may be safely depended upon to support themselves without tendency to fall or cave inwardly. After each section of earth of a predetermined depth has been removed from the excavation a lagging-supporting ring, which has been lowered into. the excavation in sections, is set up at the bottom of the excavation, together with the expandingscrews and inner frame, and is suspended by means of suspending-rods 33 from a superjacent lagging-supporting ring or other suitable support a distance from the laggingsupporting ring last placed in position to correspond with the length of the lagging-stri 'is. fllhereafter the lagging-strips are inserted in place between the rings and the sides of the excavation, said strips being supported by their hooks upon the lowermost ring. In practice each lagging-supporting ring is not expanded until after both sets of abutting lagging-strips associated therewith are in place. This arrangement enables the upper ends of the lagging-strips when inserted in place to be thrust upwardly behind the lower ends of the lagging-strips of the next superjacent u'nexpanded section of lagging, so as to permit the lower ends of the strips being inserted to be passed above the lowermost ring to the space between said ring and the sides of the excavation, as shown in Fig. 2. After the lower end of each laggingstrip has passed the lowermost or -last-inserted ring the strip is dropped to engage its supporting hook with the upper margin of the ring. It will be seen, therefore, that when following such practice two of the lagging-supporting rings next adjacent to the bottom of the excavation are suspended from superjacent rings through the medium of suspendingrods 33, as shown in Fig. 2. As each ring and its associated lagging-section is expanded or pressed outwardly such section of the lagging is held in place by its frictional engagement with the sides of the excavation and the suspending rods, which theretofore spaced the lower supportingring of said section and suspended the lagging, is removed. In beginning the excavation the topmost lagging-supporting ring is suspended until after it is expanded by the suspending-rods 33 from horizontal beams 34, extending transversely across the upper end of the excavation, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig.

cavation is filled with such material the inner open frames 15, together with the screw-jacks 14 and their fittings 18 and 18, are removed from the excavation, while the lagging-supportin rings, together with the lagging, remains as a permanent part of the pier structure.

I claim as my invention- 1. The improvement in the method of con structing concrete foundation-piers in the earth, which consists in digging the excava tion, lining the sides of the excavation with successively lower sections of lagging as the work of excavating progresses, separately suspending each section of the lining as it is placed in position and thereafter expanding the suspending means to press the lagging against the sides of the excavation.

2. The improvement in the method of constructing concrete foundation-piers in the earth, which consists in digging the excavation, lining the sides of the excavation with successively lower sections of lagging as the work of excavating progresses, expanding said lagging outwardly against the sides of the excavation, and suspending each section of lagging after it is inserted in place and be fore it is expanded from a superjacent ex panded lining-section.

3. Means for placing and supporting successively lower sections of lagging in an excavation in the earth formed to receive a concrete pier, embracing means located at the level of each section of lagging for preliminary suspending the same and means thereafter acting on the lagging-suspending means for pressing the lagging outwardly against the sides of the excavation.

4. Means for placing and supporting successively lower sections of lagging in an excavation in the earth formed to receive a concrete foundation-pier, comprising expansible lagging-supporting rings located severally at the levels of the sections of lagging and means for expanding said rings outwardly.

5. Means for supporting the lagging in an excavation in the earth formed to receive a concrete foundation-pier, comprising expansible lagging-supporting rings, an open frame located within each ring and expanding de vices interposed between. said open frames and the lagging-supporting rings.

6. Means for supporting the lagging in an excavation in the earth formed to receive a concrete foundation-pier, comprising expansible lagging-supporting rings, an open frame located within each ring, and jack-screws attached to the central open frames and acting at their outer ends against said lagging-supporting rings.

7. Means for supporting the lagging in an excavation in the earth formed to receive a concrete foundation-pier, comprising expansible lagging-supporting rings, a centrallylocated open frame located within each ring, and jack-screws attached to said central frames and extending outwardly and detachably connected at their outer ends with said lagging-supporting rings.

8. Means for supporting the lagging in an excavation in the earth formed to receive a concrete foundation-pier, comprising a plurality of vertically-separated, expansible lagging-supporting rings, means acting on the rings to expand the same outwardly, and thereby press the lagging against the sides of the excavation, and means for supending each successively lowermost ring, as the excavating-work progresses, from a higher expanded ring until the lagging is inserted between said lower ring and the side of the ex cavat'ion and the said lower ring and lagging expanded outwardly.

9. Means for supporting the lagging in an excavation in the earth formed to receive a concrete foundation-pier, comprising a plurality of expansible lagging-supporting rings, means acting against the rings to expand the same outwardly and thereby press the lagging against the sides of the excavation, and suspending-hooks for spacing a lower unexpanded ring from an upper ring, and for suspending said lower ring until the lagging is applied thereto and the lagging supported thereby pressed outwardly.

10. The art of building foundation-casings which consists in positioning expansible casing-rings, then introducing the lagging behind the rings, and then expanding the rings.

1 1. The art of building foundation-casings for wells which consists in positioning expansible casing-rings, then introducing the lagging behind the rings, and then expanding said rings by means of jacks until the lagging is forced into engagement and pressed against the walls of the well.

12. The art of building sectional foundation-casings which consists in placing the first or top section in position, then positioning the expansible casing-rings for the next lower section and supporting said rings from the first section, introducing lagging around said rings and finally expanding the rings.

13. An expansible casing-ring formed of T-iron, lugs secured to the flange of said T-iron, and jacks engaging with said lugs for the purpose of expanding said rings.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention 1 aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 2d day of November, A. D. I905.

GEORGE W. JACKSON.

Witnesses:

J AMES J GRAHAM, GEO. O. WHARTQN. 

